NHLPA agrees to realignment

[Nac Mac Feegle]

So the West needs two teams to get to 16, Seattle and who else? Quebec, Markham, Hamilton wont be getting one since they are all in the east.

Can always flip Detroit (or someone else) back to the west if they have to after expansion.

It is a wee bit strange they didn't keep the conferences even though. You'd think Seattle and Hamilton/Quebec City will be the next two in the league.

 

[Magix]

Not sure if I'm super excited about Detroit being a division rival or scared. Now we'll have to deal with a ton of Wings fans in SBP on a regular basis. I could see myself hating that team in the very near future.

If it was chi-town I would be worried but isnt Detroit finally on the downside of their legendary run?

Only teams I would be worried about in the new alignment are the bruins and to a lesser extent the habs. Those are the teams we will be battling it out with for first place and have to get through to reach the holy grail.

 

[FolignoQuantumLeap]

Tampa Bay-Ottawa could become a solid rivalry. Both teams will have a ton of Bingo and Syracuse/Norfolk players which is a nice rivalry in the A.

 

[balaclava brian]

Cool.

Now all that has to be done is:
1) move Phoenix to Seattle,
2) move Tampa Bay and Florida to Ontario and Quebec,
3) contract league by dissolving Columbus and Nashville
4) move Detroit into the Midwest Division.

 

[SilverSeven]

This doesnt mean anything with regards to expansion. There is a reason they want the ability to change it in a few years.

 

[derriko]

Cool.
3) contract league by dissolving Columbus and Nashville.

Really man? Nashville is far from the bottom in attendance (20th last year). They love the Predators down there...

 

[Legend Killer]

Cool.

Now all that has to be done is:
1) move Phoenix to Seattle,
2) move Tampa Bay and Florida to Ontario and Quebec,
3) contract league by dissolving Columbus and Nashville
4) move Detroit into the Midwest Division.

1) Yeah, makes sense. Or Portland
2) Tampa isnt going anywhere. Florida can re-locate.
3) league is looking to expand. Not disolve. Nashville is strong. Columbus can be/was strong
4) Depends on expansion

 

[Caeldan]

Cool.

Now all that has to be done is:
1) move Phoenix to Seattle,
2) move Tampa Bay and Florida to Ontario and Quebec,
3) contract league by dissolving Columbus and Nashville
4) move Detroit into the Midwest Division.

1) Good luck as long as there's that lease on the building.
2) Both Florida teams are here to stay. Florida's situation is like ours where the team is a loss leader. TB has no problems
3) We're more likely to see 2 teams added than 2 teams removed
4) Detroit doesn't want to go back to the west.

 

[muffin with tentacle]

It's awkward that two of the prime expansion targets are EST cities. I'm pretty sure that a Markham team would be relegated to the Western Conference, but Quebec City could only be in the East. And I'm sure neither Detroit or Columbus wants to move back. And I don't think any of the existing EST teams are relocation candidates at the moment. (Carolina? Their attendance never seems stellar.)

Edit:

I should note, though, that realignment and time zones and playoff formats and divisions, etc etc... none of that should affect relocation and expansion decisions. If QC is the best market to get a team, QC will get a team. They'll make the divisions/format work somehow. Nailing the markets is priority #1 and figuring out alignment is totally secondary.

 

[Senateurs]

It's tougher because there is more teams but I think we will do well.

-Boston is still the best team and they will be for a long time thanks to Burke.
-Detroit is a very good team but not the powerhouse it was 4-5 ears ago.

-Montreal is good. They have Galchenyuk but it's not lke they have a lot of prospects pushing for a roster spot. Nobody is jealous.
-I fell like Toronto is finally reaping the benefits of their rebuild...and this is as good as it gets. However, Toronto will always buy success rather than

-Tampa has one superstar, a very good defenseman and too aging forwards. Can't see them becoming better than what we see now.
-Florida has a few good pieces to build on, they will be better in the next few years but it's too soon to say they will be contenders
-It's hard to gage Buffalo. I thought they would be better this year but looks like they're headed for a top pick. They are better than the 14th-15th ranked team in East but I doubt they will be contenders.

IMO, Boston is the only team clearly better than Ottawa. We can definately compete with Detroit, Montreal and the rest.

 

[Upgrayedd]

So does this end the West is a better/harder conference debate? Surely the travel will be offset by the 7% greater chance of making the playoffs?!?

 

[BonkTastic]

So we have the "Pacific" and "Midwest" divisions in the Western Conference, and the "Central" and "NBC Sports" divisions in the Eastern Conference. Right?

I'm not looking at that wrong, am I?

 

[Shec8576]

Personally I'm not thrilled with the new setup. I think it isn't very Ottawa friendly despite the fact we will get to see a lot of popular teams here.

Only three teams out of 8 are assured a spot in the playoffs and with the Habs and Leafs on the upswing then Detroit and Boston as possible locks, that leaves us, Tampa, and Buffalo as the teams who the original four will be hoping not to be in it. The Sens do have a very nice looking roster for next season for sure but i'd hate to be that 5th place, solid team who missed by a few points for a wild card because of the other divisions "wildcard" team.

Having said all that, i'm optimistic the Sens can be one of the best in the East next year and don't want my first impressions on this forum to be that of a negative homer.

 

[PeterSidorkiewicz]

Baseball has a 16/14 conference setup, right?

I'm happy about this for selfish reasons, more games for Ottawa in Detroit, so more live games I can attend. More games in Columbus as well, which is only 3 hours away, so this is awesome for me.

 

[BonkTastic]

Baseball has a 16/14 conference setup, right?

I'm happy about this for selfish reasons, more games for Ottawa in Detroit, so more live games I can attend. More games in Columbus as well, which is only 3 hours away, so this is awesome for me.

Not anymore.

Starting this year, Houston has moved to the AL West, so there's a clean 15/15 split.

 

[Senateurs]

Why not leave Columbus in the West to have 15-15?
Then make it 16-16 after expansion? There is only Seattle in the West anyway.

Agreed. Leave them in the mid-west and have a Uberweak division.

Only three teams out of 8 are assured a spot in the playoffs and with the Habs and Leafs on the upswing then Detroit and Boston as possible locks, that leaves us, Tampa, and Buffalo as the teams who the original four will be hoping not to be in it. The Sens do have a very nice looking roster for next season for sure but i'd hate to be that 5th place, solid team who missed by a few points for a wild card because of the other divisions "wildcard" team.

Having said all that, i'm optimistic the Sens can be one of the best in the East next year and don't want my first impressions on this forum to be that of a negative homer.

I see the Habs on the upswing because they have Price and young guys like Pacioretty and Galchenyuk but I really don't see why the Leafs are on the upswing. They're better and not bottomfeeders anymore but i really don't see that team being a division contender..

 

[PeterSidorkiewicz]

Not anymore.

Starting this year, Houston has moved to the AL West, so there's a clean 15/15 split.

How long was it 16/14 for? It didn't seem like anyone complained about it, or maybe they did, I barely pay attention to baseball.

 

[Xspyrit]

lol, we have no idea what the future holds, how any of those team will develop. Heck, we're not even sure about our own team.

For now, these changes means nothing in terms of tougher/easier

 

[BigZKingK]

Maybe Quebec will get a team already in the east

and KC and Seatle would get the new team or something like that

nothing will happen for a couple of year anyway

 

[GimmeMyJetpack]

I always found it funny that Canadians are so adamant to have a team move into Canada...Yes, it would fill the arena but if you all think attendance is the primary revenue concerns you are sadly mistaken. The truth is as long as you love hockey you should hope to hell that the southern American teams succeed and that we get more American teams (Portland/Seattle). The fact is TV viewership is already close to 100% in Canada and with the complete monopoly of media here as well as the low population the NHL cannot make any more money from Canada. More teams in the USA means higher dollar tv contracts which eventually translates into a greater acceptance of the sport in the US and further dollars. More money = better protection from KHL...

With that said it would be awesome if we could get a team in Quebec but i would suspect it would be after 2 more west/south american team.

 

[Back in Black]

I always found it funny that Canadians are so adamant to have a team move into Canada...Yes, it would fill the arena but if you all think attendance is the primary revenue concerns you are sadly mistaken.

Sad but true.....

 

[IranCondraAffair]

Meh. I don't see a big issue. I don't think any division got noticeably better or worse.

Detroit is a well run team but it isn't "Detroit" anymore.
Tampa is good but just like we're losing Alfredsson, they will lose Vinny and MSL soon.
Panthers are up and down like everyone else.

Meh.

 

[Caeldan]

How long was it 16/14 for? It didn't seem like anyone complained about it, or maybe they did, I barely pay attention to baseball.

In any year I followed I hated it, because AL West had 4 teams - and AL East had like 7... so Toronto always ended up with 0 chance at a wildcard, while having a better record than the winner of the AL West

 

[BonkTastic]

In any year I followed I hated it, because AL West had 4 teams - and AL East had like 7... so Toronto always ended up with 0 chance at a wildcard, while having a better record than the winner of the AL West

AL East haven't had 7 teams since '93... and back then, every division had 7 teams, so there was no imbalance in divisional numbers.

MLB went to a 6 division league in '94, when both the AL West and NL West had 4 teams each, with the other divisions all having 5. In '98, Tampa and Arizona came into the league as expansion franchises, and Milwaukee moved from the AL to the NL. That started the 16-14 unbalance between the NL and the AL.

It's been 16-14 from '98 until this year.

 

[danishh]

it is kind of strange that the MLB has been moving towards an NHL/NBA style alignment over the past twenty years and the NHL is suddenly doing the opposite.